Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, 54, will be tried in criminal court on state securities fraud charges on May 1, 2017.

The schedule for Paxton’s trial coincides with the busiest month in Texas’ political season. May is the last month when state legislators can pass or kill bills, and it is shortly before politicians announce they will be campaigning for the next election season. Paxton is facing charges of two counts of felony securities fraud and one count of failing to register with the state as an investment adviser, charges that carry a potential prison sentence of 99 years and tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

Paxton’s legal team is optimistic that they will win this case. Lawyer Dan Cogdell said, “I’m delighted to get this thing to trial and I’m confident that the right verdict’s going to happen and the general will be acquitted. We can’t wait to get to trial.”

The effects of a criminal conviction can leave serious marks on your reputation, personal, and professional life. It is essential to acquire the legal representation of our attorneys at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law if you have the misfortune of being accused of a crime in Austin or another area in Texas. Call our offices today at (512) 472-1950 to speak with a qualified member of our legal team.

Three Republican senators – Chuck Grassley, Jerry Moran, and Pat Roberts – asked in late December for the Department of Homeland Security to hand over immigration records for Mexican national Tomas Martinez-Maldonado. Martinez-Maldonado, 38, was charged with a felony following the alleged rape of a teenage girl on September 27, 2016 aboard a Greyhound bus in Geary County, Kansas.

Grassley, chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, co-signed a December 9 letter with Moran and Roberts to the Homeland Security Secretary upon learning that Martinez-Maldonado was deported 10 times. He had also been voluntarily removed from the country another nine times since 2003. Martinez-Maldonado’s legal counsel, David Trevino, in defense of his client, said it is not unusual for immigrants to be able to renter the U.S. multiple times without legal permission. Trevino noted, Trump “can build a wall 100 feet high and 50 feet deep, but it is not going to keep family members separated.”

Our attorneys at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law provide legal services for our clients in Austin and other areas in Texas. We will put forth our best fight in order for the charges against you to be lessened or dropped altogether. Speak with a qualified member of our legal team by calling our offices today at (512) 472-1950.

The Austin Police Department’s forensic crime laboratory, which temporarily shut down in June 2016 due to issues of contamination and tampering that were raised by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, will likely cause Travis County and the city of Austin around $6 to $14.4 million to reopen.

While Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said they are still not sure as to what exact amount would be needed to make a clean review of the cases that involved the contaminated DNA evidence, she noted “I expect it to be a very large number. The downstream costs of this are mostly in the country’s column, and we’re going to need the city’s assistance with this.”

However, some city officials said they do not believe that the laboratory’s reopening in 2017 would take millions of dollars.

We at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law, who provide legal services for our clients in Austin or other areas in Texas, can help you protect your future by providing you with the best criminal defense representation. Get in touch with a qualified member of our legal team by calling our offices today at (512) 472-1950.

In light of the closure of the Austin Police Department’s DNA laboratory, advocates for sexual assault victims have started the #EndtheBacklog campaign due to their fear that untested rape kits would remain untested, adding to the number of unsolved sexual assault cases, an already high number: 484 untested rape kits from within the past year and 126 pending sexual assault cases.

The Austin City Council conceded to an additional $1.4 million in funding for the lab—which should go towards paying seven new forensic analysts and one new supervisor-level employee for the lab when it reopens in February 2017—in September during discussions to finalize the city’s 2017 fiscal budget.

Being convicted of a crime, especially rape or sexual assault, can bring about dire consequences for you and your family; this is why it is essential that you hire the legal services of an attorney who is guaranteed to deliver favorable results in most of the cases they handle, much like our attorneys at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law. Call our Austin offices at (512) 472-1950 to learn about our legal services and representation.

Austin Police Department’s forensics laboratory was closed in May 2016 after discoveries of contaminated evidence and faulty scientific protocol during a Texas Forensic Science Commission audit. Following this development, defense attorneys believe that some convictions should be investigated because they might be worth overturning.

At present, staffers at the district attorney’s office are almost a third of the way through checking the police department’s forensic investigations since 2004 to determine the number that resulted in trials and convictions. So far, they say around 1,044 cases resulted in 863 convictions for the defendants, Director of Special Prosecutions Gregg Cox said. The laboratory is set to reopen in 2017, but local authorities are still in contention about whether they will allow the police department to run it independently. One major problem contributing to this conundrum was the fact that the police department created its own testing methods with no scientific basis, and they continue to stand by these methods.

If you have been charged with a criminal offense in Austin or another area in Texas, your legal rights may need a serious defense strategy. Seek the legal assistance of our criminal defense attorneys at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law by calling our offices today at (512) 472-1950 so we can craft comprehensive and aggressive legal strategies that will help support your case as soon as possible.

Former Texas state psychiatrist Dr. Charles Fischer, who is a resident of Westlake, was convicted of multiple charges last Wednesday, November 16, which include four counts of sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony, by a Travis County who deliberated for nine hours over two days before returning with the decision. The same jury will decide on Fischer’s sentence.

Fischer allegedly abused seven men, only one of whom wasn’t a patient of his but, rather, a seven- or eight-year-old neighbor of his previously.

Fischer originally faced 17 felonies—the most severe charge against him, aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony, was dropped.

Monica Flores, one of the three attorneys who prosecuted the case against Fischer, focused on discussing the three accusers who appear on Fischer’s 2012 indictment.

The criminal penalties that can befall a person who had been convicted of a criminal offense can leave long-lasting damaging effects to said person’s reputation, especially since a criminal record can leave permanent marks on one’s personal and employment history. If you had been charged with a crime in Austin or other areas in Texas, get in touch with our attorneys at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law by calling our offices today at (512) 472-1950.

It might be a long time before Austin, Texas can make it through its backlog of over 600 batches of DNA evidence related to sexual assaults. Austin Police Department Chief of Staff Brian Manley told members of the Public Safety Commission last Tuesday, November 8 that he was uncertain when the Dallas County’s forensics laboratory would finish processing the evidence.

The Austin City Council passed a $3.6 million six-year contract with Dallas County to process Austin’s DNA evidence. Austin Police Department’s own laboratory faced recent closure because of evidence contamination. Judge Karen Sage of the 299th Travis County Criminal District Court said the backlog was already interfering with public safety and defendants’ constitutional rights. Sage recalled one case of a man charged with sexual assault who she was forced to dismiss before the DNA evidence could be analyzed because “he had a sixth amendment right to a speedy trial.”

If you are accused of breaking the law in Austin, no matter how severe the charges you are facing, seek legal representation from our criminal defense attorneys at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law today by calling our offices today at (512) 472-1950. Get in touch with us as soon as you can.

The sexual assault trial against Texas state psychiatrist Dr. Charles Fischer started last Wednesday, October 26 in the 299th District Court before Judge Karen Sage.

In the two days of trial, prosecutors presented evidence against Fischer from the complainant as well as his mother, a friend, and the complainant’s counselor of eight years, Courtney Tate. Tate said the complainant had lingering guilty feelings because of what happened to him and due to his perceived role in his alleged abuse. The complainant said he was 15 years old when Fischer sexually assaulted him by rubbing his thigh and masturbating in front of him, twice.

Our team at Ian Inglis Attorney at Law provides legal services for our clients in Austin and other areas of Texas. We can help you fight for your freedom if you are charged with a criminal offense. Seek the legal assistance of our aggressive, competent, and crafty criminal defense attorney by calling our offices today at (512) 472-1950.

Forty-eight-year-old Long Island, New York resident Glenn Terry was found guilty of second-degree attempted kidnapping and five weapons charges on Thursday, October 27. His charges are in relation to his plot to kidnap his attorney, Frank Tinari, over disagreements related to a personal injury settlement, a report from Newsday showed.

Terry, who is a former resident of Hortsville in Suffolk County, will be sentenced on Wednesday, December 14. Investigators said Terry was conspiring to kidnap Tinari for over a year. He allegedly planned to bind Tinari with duct tape, keep him in his father’s basement in Hortsville, and douse Tinari with gasoline.

Tinari, who is the chairman of the Suffolk Conservative Party, obtained a $450,000 settlement for Terry because he was scalded after falling into a bathtub of boiling water. Terry was allegedly disappointed with the amount of the settlement.

A Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge, Judge Amos Mazzant III, dismissed the civil securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday, October 7. The decision means Paxton must brace for the outcome of the similar case he is facing in criminal court, wherein the burden of proof for the prosecution is heavier.

A Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton last summer with two counts of securities fraud and one count of failing to register with the Texas State Securities Board. The charges come after Paxton allegedly neglected to tell investors of Servergy Inc. that he gets a commission when they invest in the firm. He also neglected to register with the state regulatory board when he was acting as an investor while at the same time serving as a state legislator from that county.

Ian Inglis Attorney at Law provides legal services for clients in Austin and other areas in Texas. He handles criminal defense cases including fraud and other white collar crimes. Call our offices today at (512) 472-1950 to learn more about your legal options.